American troops launch their attacks into the city center, crossing into Ermita and Malate against heavy resistance. Meanwhile, the cavalry pushes in toward Rizal Stadium in the south as they also join in the attack on Nichols Field. Finally, Admiral Iwabuchi is contacted by Shimbu Group, and offered one last chance of escape.

The Americans finally secure Provisor Island, albeit with the power plant destroyed, and tighten their grip around the city. Internees begin to be evacuated from Santo Tomas, while the Japanese continue their campaign of extermination against civilians in the city center.

The Americans link all three of their forces, surrounding the city, and Admiral Iwabuchi commits to making a final stand in Manila. Massacres escalate today as well, with notable incidents at the German Club and Red Cross, as the Japanese elect to take as many innocents with them as possible.

The 37th Infantry engages Japanese strongpoints at the Paco Rail Station and Provisor Island, while the 11th Airborne presses its attack on Nichols Field. The 1st Cavalry also reenters the fight, prompting Admiral Iwabuchi to relocate his headquarters to Fort McKinley and order the beginning of the extermination of Manila’s remaining citizens.

The Americans push out from their beachhead in the Malacañang Gardens, encountering heavy resistance and a flood of refugees as they push into Paco. Meanwhile, the 11th Airborne is still engaged in vicious fighting around Nichols Field, and the Japanese begin to target foreign diplomats as well as civilians.

MacArthur visits Bilibid, Santo Tomas and the Malacañang Palace, and the 37th Infantry crosses the Pasig against heavy resistance to begin the drive through Paco to the power station on Provisor Island. Meanwhile, the Japanese begin burning the Intramuros and massacring civilians in Fort Santiago.

The city north of the Pasig is almost secure, as the 11th Airborne fights through the teeth of the Genko Line, and the inferno continues to build. in the Intramuros, the Japanese force more than 1,000 men and boys into the dungeons of Fort Santiago.

The hostages from Santo Tomas are freed in what is possibly the only parley between US and Japanese forces during the war, as the fighting continues to intensify on the north side of the Pasig. The 11th Airborne pushes onto Nichols Field in the south, while the Japanese tighten their grip on the civilians in the city center. Intramuros is locked down, and the entire Escolta area has become an inferno.

The 37th Infantry Division enters Manila as the Japanese intensify their campaign to destroy the city. Large fires are being set in neighborhoods north of the Pasig, while the Americans deal with the humanitarian crisis of caring for the inmates of Santo Tomas and Bilibid Prison, which is also liberated today.

The first American troops enter Manila since the city fell in 1942, liberating the internees at Santo Tomas and securing the Malacañang Palace, but they also encounter heavy resistance as they try to approach the destroyed bridges over the Pasig. Meanwhile, the 11th Airborne drops on Tagaytay Ridge and begins their advance toward the city from the south, and the Japanese begin the massacre of civilians.

In October of 1944 General MacArthur made his promised return to the Philippines when he landed on Leyte. This preceded a bloody campaign, but was only the first step on the road to avenging his defeat on Luzon in 1942, a road that led directly to the city of Manila.

The city of Manila, just as the rest of the Philippines, had suffered under the occupation imposed by the Empire of Japan, but the greatest tribulation was yet to come, as the final days of the occupation drew near.

The series of events that led to the Battle of Manila in 1945 began in late 1941, as the Japanese invaded the Philippines and defeated the American and Filipino forces on the archipelago and began an occupation.